can you set up a hardware raid with data already on a few disks?

For my home server i have two 1Tb sata drives for media, both of which are completely full and currently not backed up. I want to buy another two identical 1Tb drives and run them in hardware raid using the on board controller on my motherboard.

Problem is (i think) i will need to find another 2Tb of storage to take my stuff off the two 1Tb drives then copy it back on when its in raid. Or do I? Is there a way i can keep the data (which is currently in NTFS) where it is? I dont know anyone with a spare 2Tb of spare storage i could use, and im really not keen to buy one on top of the two 1Tb disks.

So there is no way i could set it up in Raid 1 with two new disks, copy the information on, then expand to raid 5 with the two old disks? Its a pity i couldnt borrow a 2Tb drive and then take it back after lol

So there is no way i could set it up in Raid 1 with two new disks, copy the information on, then expand to raid 5 with the two old disks? Its a pity i couldnt borrow a 2Tb drive and then take it back after lol

Some RAID cards have a feature that will build the RAID from the source, depending on the RAID level. RAID 1 can often be "built", RAID 5, not so much. But chances are if you're using up 2 TB of info, it won't be long before you have 4 TBs, and having 5 1TB drives would do it for you.

Some controllers can build a RAID 1 array from a single disk when you add a new disk since all that needs to be done is make the new disk a mirror of the first. Also, some controllers can build a RAID 5 array from a RAID 0 array when adding a new disk since all that needs to be done is generate the parity data and spread it out. But since you are planning on using the on-board controller, there is a good chance it can do neither. Your best bet is to come up with a backup plan. Then backup your data, create the new RAID array, then restore your data from the backup.

I just had a closer look at the onboard raid controller. It can only handle Raid 0 or 1. Not raid 5 as i hoped/assumed.That is a bit of a hassle.

I ended up forking out for for a 2Tb Seagate Xtreme external hard drive which has drive spin down. Will just leave that plugged into my notebook dock and have software based sync between the server and that when my notebook is docked. Its far from ideal, but it will give 1:1 backup while i have a look and see if its worth buying a PCIe raid controller card.